Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis announced on Thursday that he had agreed to buy WNBA Las Vegas Aces:
George Kliavkoff, president of entertainment and sports at MGM Resorts International, confirmed the sale, which still requires approval from the WNBA Board of Governors.
Davis moved the Raiders to Las Vegas in 2020, after the NFL team spent the previous 25 seasons in Oakland.
Aces are also relatively new in the city, moving out of San Antonio before the 2018 season after being purchased by MGM Resorts.
The Aces became one of the best teams in the WNBA, leading the league with an 18-4 record last season. League MVP A’ja Wilson led the team to the WNBA 2020 finals, where they lost to the Seattle Storm.
Davis has regularly participated in games as part of his immersion in the Las Vegas sports scene. As The Associated Press’s Doug Feinberg noted (via Yahoo Sports), the Raiders bought 1,600 tickets during the 2019 season to distribute to children.
“Aces are like the sisters of the Raiders, and the [NHL’s] Golden Knights are like our brothers, “Davis said in 2018.
He must now manage two professional teams in Las Vegas.